


Like a Movie

by higayimdad



Series: TXT oneshots [7]
Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1990s, Childhood Friends, Falling out, Fluff, Happy Ending, Huening Kai-Centric, M/M, Reuniting, Running Away, Soulmates, Summer Vacation, Using scary movies as a plot device, and bubblegum, barely angst, cries they love each other so much, more or less, side yeonbin btw but like they r only mentioned a few times, the other members are only mentioned, together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28429365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/higayimdad/pseuds/higayimdad
Summary: It's like a movie. A cheesy coming of age movie. It's Kai's last summer vacation, he reunites with Taehyun, his childhood best friend. Spends his days and nights with him. Whether it's on the rooftop of the forgotten parking garage or in Taehyun's dusty basement. It's easy, it's simple. They love each other, even if they don't say it out loud.
Relationships: Huening Kai/Kang Taehyun
Series: TXT oneshots [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684213
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	Like a Movie

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Well Worn Paths, and How Not to Take Them](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26895607) by [TRASHCAKE](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TRASHCAKE/pseuds/TRASHCAKE). 



> hehe so this was initially inspired by the au mentioned above (its a _masterpiece_ ). while this au doesn't follow the same plotline or so, you will probably notice some similar themes in them, and it would be a lie if I said this entire au wasn't inspired by their work. honestly. this au does take place in 1999 too, it isn't as apparent though, I just really liked the 90's vibe. 
> 
> shoutout to my friend on twt who is my main tyunninger, this one is for you

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

Kai wanted to believe his last day of school would be something out of the movies, that everyone would run to the top of the stairs and throw assignments and textbooks in the air. So that they would rain down on the floor and leave a mess for the poor janitor to clean up. Everyone would be dressed to the top and share the last moments of their school life with tears in their eyes and the telling of bittersweet memories. Everyone would flood out of the classroom with their hands in the air when the principal finally bid everyone good luck in the future. 

It was his own fault really for having expectations so high. 

The slacks his mother had bought him was cutting into his skin, was uncomfortable in places he didn’t even _know_ he could be uncomfortable in. The tie felt wonky, and he regretted not letting his father tie it for him. His homeroom teacher had the exact same monotone voice during the speech he was holding now as he had for the three years Kai had him in math. If he was just slightly more tired he was sure he would have fallen asleep. 

Most of his classmates must have been thinking the same thing, all sat quietly with heavy lids and slow breathing. 

Though everyone imagined this to be the best day of their life, Hueningkai wasn’t the only one to yawn when they left the classroom to meet the principal in the assembly hall. 

This was the last moment of his high school days ever. He wasn’t even sure if he was happy or not. 

“Huening Kai Kamal.” The principal called into the microphone, Kai walked over the stage, bowing towards the teacher and the crowd. He shook the principal’s hand and thanked him quietly for the white envelope containing his final grades. 

His parents smiled at him wide from the crowd. Clapped a bit louder when he left the stage. 

Kai realized it was over, the last moment of his high school days were now over.

“Congratulations sweetie! What does it feel like?” His mother hugged his side when they met in the parking lot. The last 15 minutes felt weirdly unreal, he could only remember that his principal bid the no longer seniors good luck in the future, he could remember that everyone stood up and clapped. He does _not_ remember ever leaving the building. 

“It’s weird.” Kai glanced around the filled parking lot, he recognized a lot of the parents, some of whom were parents to friends Kai had known for years. Many girls in his class were drying mascara off their wet cheeks, while the boys were slapping each other on their backs, as if not to let them know they will miss each other.

He himself wondered if it was weird he wouldn’t _really_ miss anyone. 

“Have you said goodbye to everyone?” Kai’s father asked. 

“Yeah.” 

“Oh Taehyun too?” His mother waved at the other boys' mother, they stood on the opposite side of the parking lot. She happily waved back, and slapped a young blond on the shoulder. 

“Mom-“ 

Kai took a step behind her, as if he would be able to hide behind her small figure. 

“I haven’t talked to Taehyun in like 4 years why would I suddenly say goodbye to him on graduation?” 

His mother said something he didn’t quite catch, and by Kai’s initiative, they all seated in the car, drove home in the blazing sun. The first day of summer vacation, the last one in his life. 

The last day of his high school day wasn’t at all what he imagined it to be. It wasn’t the bang and the cheers, it was just watching people in his class say goodbye and sign each other’s yearbooks. It was uncomfortable pants and his mother embarrassing him. It was yet to be the movie he imagined it to be. 

“Where are Soobin and Yeonjun? I thought they would come by for dinner.” Kai looked up from the comic book in his hand, his mother was looking for something in the cupboard. With her head in there between boxes of cereal he barely even heard her question. 

“They went for early vacation, I think Soobin wanted to visit his sister in the city and brought Yeonjun with him too. We’ll celebrate or something when they come home.” 

“Ah how will those boys ever find a girlfriend when they spend so much time together-“ 

Kai rolled his eyes, turned a page. His mother let out a frustrated yell.

“You need to run to the store. Someone has eaten all of the chocolate for the cake.” 

“I didn’t- why do I have to go? What about Bahiyyih?” 

“She’s with a friend, won’t be home until dinner. Besides, I don’t want her running around town alone. You go.” 

He tried his best to convey his frustration, but didn’t quite dare to do anything else but slamming his book on the table. 

The corner store was just a few blocks away, Kai hopped on his bike. 

He had lived in the same house his entire life, it was a nice neighborhood. There was the park behind his house, the small lake just a short bike ride south. There was a dark blue house, just four houses down from Kai’s; he always found himself looking in through the windows when he passed it. 

Kai stopped outside the store, let his bike stand unlocked against a pole next to it. The navy bike next to it looked weirdly familiar, he could have sworn it was-

“Oh.” Kai turned his face away from the bike, ashamed to have been so distracted he didn’t notice he was walking straight into…“Taehyun?” he coughed out. 

The blond pressed his lips into a firm line, clenched his fingers around the see through bag. The cherry gum and the disgustingly green soda was familiar. He drank it when he was younger too, chewed the same gum. _“I’ll literally jump off the old bridge if they stop selling these.”_ The friend used to say, his voice was a little bit more high pitched - more feisty back then. Kai and Taehyun were friends a long time ago, well one could argue they were still friends. They hadn’t talked for a handful of years though, Kai never figured out why. Guessed life played a part in that. 

Despite growing up like they had no one but each other, as they grew up they slowly but surely met new people, they slowly but surely spent less and less time with each other. When Kai began high school, there were only remnants of their friendship left in old polaroids and badly drawn pictures from kindergarten, memories of their friendship which quickly faded away.

Kai got new friends, he met the outgoing and rebellious senior, he befriended the quiet council president. Taehyun met other people too, Kai knew that.

“Hi.” Taehyun breathed out. 

“Hi.” 

Taehyun opened and closed his mouth, like he was about to ask something - perhaps an awkward icebreaker. 

“My mom scolded me for not talking to you today.” Taehyun laughed instead. 

“Mine too. I don’t think they realized we aren-” Kai stopped himself from continuing, didn’t want to mention that they weren’t really friends, as if it would become a harsh reality if he said it out loud.

It’s been years since they really talked. 

“Hey Kai I have to go but- but it would be fun to catch up sometime.”

“Yeah. Of course. Any time.” He took a step aside, let the blond walk past him. It sounded fake, like this was actually the last time they would ever catch a glimpse of each other. It sounded more like one of those empty promises of “hey let’s grab a coffee someday!” which actually meant “I never wanna see you again.”

Kai watched him kick off with the navy bike, the blue and orange windbreaker was all too big for him, when he sat down one could barely even spot the turquoise shorts he was wearing, and Kai worried it would work as a sail on his body. 

On the way home, Kai noticed the blue bike was leaning up against the blue house, a house he had spent an awful amount of time in as a kid. Frankly, the only thing missing was perhaps Taehyun’s blue jacket, with stars embroidered on it; he wore it every day during 6th grade. 

He wanted to drown in blue. 

“I ran into Taehyun today.” Kai mindlessly said over the phone, twirling his finger around the cord. He spoke hushed, as to not let his family hear. 

Soobin let out a surprised gasp on the other side of the line, just as he was about to say something he heard faint yapping in the background. Kai thought it sounded like Soobin held the phone far from his ear, before scolding Yeonjun who was next to him. 

_“This fucking booth is 1x1 Jun,_ _move_ ,” Kai recalled that Soobin explained in the beginning of their conversation that they had to call from a telephone booth, something about his sister taking _forever_ on the phone. 

_“Does it look like I can move? Do you want me to stand in the rain? You want me to die huh?”_

_“Don’t be dramatic-”_

The older friend coughed before taking the phone to his ear again. 

“Sorry, you met Taehyun?” 

“Yeah. We ran into each other at the store, kinda just said hi.” 

“Wow. You haven’t talked in a while right?”

“No.”

Kai silenced, thought for a moment.

“I hate to admit it, but when I heard his voice and he like- actually talked to me. I miss him.” 

“Well, you could hang out.” Soobin said. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Can I really?”

Yeonjun shouted from the other side of the line, loud enough for Kai to hear him. 

“It’s your last summer vacation, go for it, what’s the worst that could happen? You could just drop everything and move cross country if you embarrass yourself. There's countless good universities in the city.” Kai laughed at how careless Yeonjun sounded, yet found it weirdly comforting. 

They eventually said goodbye, neither Soobin nor Yeonjun har coins left to put in the telephone booth, and Kai could see his sister idly waiting at the bottom of the stairs throwing him daggers with her eyes. He knew she was waiting to use the internet, and him holding her up was apparently a runner up for her origin villain story. 

If the moment ever came, Kai thought he could suggest that he and Taehyun could just go out and eat, catch up. Nothing more. If he did embarrass himself, maybe Kai could run away with Soobin and Yeonjun, third wheel for the rest of his life, but at least he’d get out of here.

Not a lot of people did, get out of here so to say. It was like the entire town was magnetized with a field so strong it kept everyone there. His mother had grown up here, as her parents did. His father hadn’t left since the moment he took his first step in this town. If you managed to get away, just for a while, maybe for college or an internship in the big city, you still ended up here again. To marry and get kids, to grow old and die. 

Kai didn’t know if he wanted that or not. Though the thought of it felt tempting; comforting and secure. Like nothing could go wrong if he just stayed here, maybe it was just the town whispering sweet nothing into his soul, to make him think he wanted to stay.

Soobin and Yeonjun had gotten away for now. If they could, so could Kai. If he ever wanted that. They taught him everything he knew. Yeonjun held flirting classes for him when Kai brought a friend to prom - despite Soobin being the only one to ever fall for the awful flirting. They taught him about all the best ways to butter up teachers in school. _“Being on their friendly side is the best advantage you could get!”_ Soobin used to remind him. The two older seniors basically held his hand and led him through life when he felt afraid. He looked up to them, even when it seemed they didn’t have their life together - they still _knew_ what they were doing. Somehow. There was nothing wrong with walking in their footsteps for a little while longer. 

Just until he learned how to do it himself. 

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

“Mom why is he allowed to go out at night but I’m not?” His sister shouted at the top of her lungs. 

“Because your brother is 18 and you are 16! What would I do if something happened to you? Do you now know how dang-” This was a fight the two had had so many times Kai could almost mime along with it. 

Somewhere in the middle of the screaming, Kai decided to quietly leave, he knew he was allowed to, and he wasn’t all that excited to listen to the two scream and shout. 

Kai unlocked his bike, kicked off. Rode past the blue house with the blue bike. Past the school he had spent most of his life in, it was something eerie seeing it so empty - even more knowing Kai would probably never step foot in it again. 

There was an old parking garage, behind the galleria, though it was still _technically_ connected to the new one, he hadn’t seen anyone here for years. The fact that it hadn’t been demolished yet was a surprise. Yeonjun had found a staircase three or so years ago, leading up to the roof. He showed Soobin- who in turn showed it to Kai.

The two older friends were never there anymore, but Kai liked it. The way he could gaze over the entire town center. All the way from the bright pink neon signs by the diner, the lights from the closely clumped together stores. The town park, the school. If he squinted; he could even spot the blue house on the hill where he lived. 

He liked spending his nights here, especially during summer. Watch the sky go from bright orange when the sun started setting, to muted pink and purple - until it was dark. So dark it could almost be mistaken for black; Kai knew it was actually blue. Royal and mighty, or like a sapphire, with stars carefully painted on it. Kai pressed play on the discman by his side, listened to it play music; he wondered how far the music would travel with the wind. 

“Wah!” He laid down on the rough ground, or roof; was perhaps more correct. The asphalt the roof was made out of felt nice under his body. He held his hand in front of his face as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. The moon illuminated the contours. Kai caught a glimpse of his watch, it was late. If he was out for just a few hours more; he might watch the sunrise too. 

Eventually, Kai made it down the garage roof, he sighed; the entire way home was more or less uphill. With a sigh he pedaled off. The town was dark and silent, not even the most central apartment buildings had windows lit up or people outside. The only thing lighting up the night was the tall streetlights, on the sidewalk. Kai watched as his shadow grew when he rode past them, until it eventually faded under the dark, then it grew, it faded. Over and over. 

He heard himself pant when he finally turned on his street, cursing himself for never putting in more effort in PE. Kai stopped, just to catch his breath for a few seconds.

To his surprise he wasn't the only one outside, as he kicked off on the bike again he met with another person. Pedaling fast on their bike, strong headlight on. Kai twisted his wrist so he could look at his watch, even in the dark he still managed to tell it was close to 1 AM. 

It wasn’t until he had already passed the person he recognized the blue bike. The screeching of old brakes almost made him jump out of surprise. 

“Kai.” The voice was distant, but it was familiar to him. 

Slowly, his own bike came to a stop, he was nearly at the blue house, he could see his own in the distance. Kai turned around. 

Taehyun stood parked with his bike under a streetlight, it cast a horrible orange light on him. The blue windbreaker fluttered a bit in the wind, he tapped the ground with his worn-out Chuck Taylors. Hot pink and dirty. 

“Do you wanna get food with me?” Taehyun asked, voice small. 

Kai smiled, hopped off his bike and turned around. Led it all the way to where Taehyun was standing, underneath the unpleasant light and the dark blue sky. He couldn't explain it, but it was a question he had been waiting for. 

“Okay.” 

The gas station by the highway was the only place that was open 24/7, they didn’t sell much; it was the usual aisle of snacks, a lonely fridge of milk, and bare necessities. Kai stared at the rolling sausages by the front, both he and Taehyun ordered fries and milkshake in silence. The cashier threw them a tired glare, like they had interrupted his quiet night. 

They sat down opposite each other by a high table in the back of the gas station, Kai was spinning his bike key around his pointing finger, they hadn’t said an actual word to each other since Kai accepted Taehyun’s offer by the corner of his street. Though they both shared so many memories together, it was like they had just met for the first time; and none of them could come up with a way to start the conversation. 

“Why are you up so late?” Taehyun suddenly asked. 

“Oh- I was just out with my bike. At least I was on my way home, why are you out so late?” Kai countered, even though he was never really accused of anything. 

“I craved gum. Like really really craved it.” 

“The cherry gum?” Kai asked, forced himself not to smile as big as he wanted to. 

“Yeah.” Taehyun laughed. 

Though Kai very much thought they would both fall into deep silence again, Taehyun easily kept the conversation going. Babbled on and about what had been going on in his life, asked wide eyed what was going on with _Kai._ “Is your sister still annoying?” “Very much so.”

Kai showed Taehyun his new discman, and the CD he had burned with his favorite songs. Taehyun made him promise to make one for him too. 

“I’ll have it ready the next time we meet.” Kai fiddled with the cord to his headphones, implying that he wanted to see Taehyun again. 

The milkshake was nearly empty, there were only a few fries left on the plate. Kai took one of them, barely warm anymore; and dipped it in the leftover vanilla shake. It was sweet and salty. 

“You do that?” Taehyun asked, pointing it out. 

“Mhm. It’s good. You should know, you’re the one who forced me to try.”

“Well when I did it you said I was disgusting for mixing the two.” 

“I lied. It’s good, I always ate it in secret.” Kai smiled, finally pushed the empty plate out of his way. 

Taehyun’s exasperated gasp echoed in the empty store, the shocked face went through all stages of grief right in front of Kai. 

“You lied?” Taehyun grabbed his blond hair, laughed and pointed his finger at Kai. “The nerve. I can’t believe it.” He continued. 

Kai snickered too, caught a glimpse of the time on his watch. 

“Aish, it’s almost 2 am. I should probably head home before my mom goes through the roof and I end up on a milk cartoon.” 

“Ah, me too.” 

The two of them began walking with their bikes along the road, it was a long way home, yet neither of them actually wanted to _bike_ the familiar way. Maybe because they wanted to drag the day out, not really ready to go home yet. Voices turned soft-spoken, traveled only between them until they disappeared into a void. They only talked for the other to hear anyway. Taehyun was still complaining about their math teacher, as if he was still bothering him. Kai agreed to whatever he said, though to be honest, he wasn’t listening as attentively as he should have. He caught himself staring at Taehyun for a bit too long. It was hypnotizing to watch the other brush his hair behind his ears, he stopped listening to the blond speak at some point when Taehyun's almond eyes locked on himself. 

The piercing in Taehyun’s ear glimmered in the moonlight, it was a simple silver ring, not big or flashy, just there. In his right ear. 

Kai touched his own earlobes, feeling the absence of a piece of jewelry himself. He knew Taehyun’s parents were conservative, he somehow doubted they _let_ him get pierced, but somehow they also hadn’t forced him to take it out and let it heal. 

“When did you do that?” Kai asked, and fiddled with his own right ear. 

“My friend- you know Beomgyu? He pierced it for me.” 

“He pierced it? By himself?”

“Yeah, brought a packet of peas from his freezer and boiled a needle from his mom’s sewing kit. Genuinely thought I would die - but I didn’t.”

“Hah.” 

_“Do you wanna pierce my ear?”_ Was the question that still lingered on Kai’s tongue when they finally turned to their street. The second time this night for Kai. 

“Hey. It was really nice tonight.” Taehyun smiled at him, wide with mouth hanging half-open, it looked like he waited for Kai to say something grand; but all he could spit out was “yeah it was.” 

Taehyun parked his navy bike by the staircase up to his front door, the door to the blue house. He entered with a small wave. Kai waited on the sidewalk until Taehyun was inside, then he biked the last 100 feet to his own house, he saw the sun beginning to rise northeast, it was almost summer solstice. The sky wasn’t really turning light yet, but the orange hues spread in the horizon, it blended into the deep dark blue sky. 

The lock clicked when he finally got home, he carefully took his shoes off and tiptoed up to his room as to not make too much noise. The house was dark, his heart was beating, the faint taste of salt was still lingering in his mouth; just to painfully remind him he was eating with Taehyun a while ago. 

Something about the old friend was comforting and familiar, they hadn’t talked in many years; Kai realized though that it felt like time hadn’t really passed at all when they met. They were still 13, they were still swimming at the beach or playing games in Taehyun’s basement. The smile stretched on his face almost hurt the apples of his cheeks, as if happiness could somehow be painful. 

He fell asleep to the sun rising, dreamt of being surrounded by oceans of blue. 

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

_“Just his name?”_ Kai mumbled it out loud, wondering if he should write something on the silver disc. Maybe write the list of the songs he included. _“Ah...no it should be a surprise, I think he would like that.”_

Deep in the basement he found a box of empty cd cases. Some had scratches and leftover glue from old stickers, some were in near perfect condition. 

He found one, pristine state, almost untouched. Spent the entire afternoon cutting paper into the right size, gluing small pictures cut from magazines to it and adding small stars around where he could fit them. In the end it looked a bit too much like a collage he made in 8th grade, but maybe it could be seen as endearing. 

_“Taehyun…”_ He wrote down, at the top. _“Wah my handwriting is ugly.”_ His nose scrunched up deep in concentration. Knocking echoed from the pencil hitting his desk. With every _“tsk tsk...”_ Kai got more and more unsure about how to continue. _“4 when u miss me...”_ A breath left his lungs, but it didn’t return. _“... >3<“ _

The tip of his pencil broke when his brain finally got access to oxygen and he realized how stupid it looked “ _Ridiculous. Embarrassing.”_ His writing was too hard, the eraser on the back of his pencil wasn’t good enough. It faded, but Kai could still read it. _“Maybe because I know what it says?”_ He tried to console himself, _“To Taehyun it will look like incoherent bullshit.”_

Then he shook his head, as if the internal struggle was finally diminished. 

_“I’ve never been scared Taehyun of all people would find me embarrassing.”_ Yet for some reason now, he worried all too much about his opinion. 

With a little bit more pride he rewrote the same thing, tracing what he just erased, word for word, before repeating it again with a sharpie. The blush crept up his face as he closed the case and left his desk. The cd was blank, but the case was decorated with feelings almost _too_ obvious. 

Whatever, it’s no big deal. It’s just a cd. Just a mixtape of songs he liked, for Taehyun. Because Taehyun asked him. 

No big deal. He will just, carefully slide it into the mailbox outside the blue house; as if knocking on the door would cause him to spontaneously combust into flames. 

“Kai?” 

The door to the house creaked open, a blond looked out. Despite it being midday his hair looked as if he was newly awake and the t-shirt looked old and worn - to be honest if Kai _really_ thought of it, it looked like a shirt he wore as much as five years ago. 

“Hi. I was just, putting the mixtape in your mailbox. For you. That you asked for. That I made.” He laughed. Dry and short. 

Taehyun stepped into slippers and took a step out on the porch. 

“You forgot my room is up there?” He pointed at the center window, right above the porch, you could see the whole street from there. Kai never answered the obviously rhetorical question.

“I think I watched you walk back and forth from the sidewalk to the mailbox six or so times. Not the mention you walked towards the door like uh...three times before walking back to the sidewalk...again?” The smile teased, like he wanted Kai to turn bright red. 

“I wasn’t sure you were home.” 

The bike was where it always stood, of course he _knew_ Taehyun was home, the lie was small and Kai didn’t know if the other one saw through it or not. Nevertheless, he never commented on it, just nodded as if he understood and silencing. 

“Do you wanna get ice cream?” Taehyun finally asked, when Kai had finally made it up on the porch, his fingers were still gripping tight at the case. Though he was afraid it would slip out of his hands, he pretended they were sweaty because today could arguably be the hottest day so far. But the truth was unfortunately just that he was nervous around Taehyun. 

“Yeah.” 

The cherry gum popped, the two seated themself on the hot plastic chairs outside the small kiosk. Taehyun picked the gum from between his teeth, stuck it under the table. Left his presence there forever. A memory unlocked somewhere, projected itself so Kai could watch it as if it was a movie. 

The gum! The cherry gum! Taehyun would pull it from his mouth and stick it underneath whatever surface was closest to him, the blond's mother used to yell at him for “daring to stick it to her old mahogany table”. Kai sometimes found them to his own disgust when his fingers brushed past the underside of a chair Taehyun had been sitting on. 

Something about the memory almost made Kai drop his ice cream, exclaim it immediately. _“I remember that! I remember that Taehyun!”_ Like he had to prove to someone, if not to himself, that he remembered such small things of his old best friend. 

His mouth remained closed though, the two of them bathed in the sun in silence instead. It wasn’t until the ice cream was gone, and Taehyun had commented something about it that a word was exchanged between them. Kai was too far gone in his head to hear though. 

Plastic almost cracked when Taehyun opened the cd case, the friend ran his fingers over the childish (but now that Kai looked at it, quite artistic) collage. He snickered at the words smudged in sharpie and spun the cd around. 

“It’s mostly music I like- I don’t know if your taste has changed any. Uh - it's Britney Spears…” Kai felt some sort of embarrassing reality hit him, wasn’t it weird to admit he listened to that? He wasn’t really in her demographic. He cleared his throat to brush over the fact. “There is some N’sync and Backstreet Boys too, my dad thought I should add a few Nirvana songs so that too. And Seo Taiji and the Boys, my mom bought me an old album of theirs. It’s dope.” 

“Sick.” Taehyun all but mumbled.

A compliment that delighted Kai just a bit too much.

Early July sun wasn’t really as merciful as one wanted it to be. This morning had been excruciating, at noon when the sun was at its highest it was almost deathly; honestly it wasn’t all that much better now. Even when clouds had started gathering around the horizon. Kai thought the t-shirt and shorts he was wearing were almost too much. Yet Taehyun didn’t even seem to break a sweat; despite the windbreaker. 

When they finally reached the top of the hill Kai felt himself exhale in relief. 

Mindlessly he followed Taehyun all the way up to his door, like they were 13 again and Taehyun was about to force Kai to help him finish a level on his old gameboy. 

“Do you wanna come in?” Taehyun asked. 

Kai’s stomach filled with butterflies, but they clumped together; started feeling more like stone than anything else. 

“Ah I can’t. I’m waiting for a friend to call by 4.”

“Do-do you still have the same home number?” Taehyun asked again, the feeling of defeat was quite apparent in his eyes. Kai nodded. 

“Then can I call tomorrow or something?”

“Of course.” 

_“Of course.”_

There wasn’t a friend who was gonna call by 4, Kai just wasn’t a fan of the familiar feeling he felt at the bottom of his stomach, in the tingling scalp and beating heart. He was nervous - and now Taehyun was gonna call tomorrow instead. Whether that was better or not he didn’t know. 

The email he sent to Soobin later that night was _lengthy_. All Soobin had really done was updating Kai on their vacation so far, sharing details that were a bit too private. The older one had ended the email with _“we might stay a little bit longer, don’t grow too bored without me and Yeonjun!”_

Kai didn’t even care, or well _couldn’t_ care much at the moment. Too much on his mind. 

_Click click click click._

His parents were fast asleep, his sister was probably sleeping at a friend's house. Kai had connected the internet cable an hour earlier, and was finally ready to hit send. Kai’s knees were pulled up tight against his chest, the chair was hard, he felt the clump of butterflies rest in his stomach. 

Soobin was in for a treat of a mail, if it was on paper it would sure as hell be at least 3 pages long. Front and back! 

Kai was done letting his emotions out for one day, maybe with the amount, even for a whole month. 

Hours passed before he went to bed really, it wasn’t until somewhere after the sun had started rising again. Sun peeking up at the horizon. 

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

“Sweetie there is someone on the phone for you.”

Kai blinked awake, cleared his throat as if to complain about being awakened so early. But when he caught a glimpse of the digital clock on his bedside table it was a bit humiliating to find out it was past noon, by a lot. 

“Ah...I’ll be down in a second. Who is on the phone now?” 

“Your dad is.” 

“ _Not dad…”_

When Kai came stumbling down the stairs he saw his father in the kitchen, the old man's posture was straight and he seemed all too awkward to be on the phone. Kai rightfully assumed it was Taehyun on the other line, because when he finally freed his father from the call the one on the other side laughed. 

“Good morning?” 

The telephone cord stopped Kai from even leaving the kitchen to be alone, but after a few seconds of silently begging his father with his eyes to leave, he complied. 

“I’m sorry, good morning.” 

Kai walked around the kitchen, poured himself a glass of juice, spread Nutella on a sandwich for breakfast. He laughed at something Taehyun said. Not only had Kai woken up, so had the butterflies. 

Taehyun was lonely apparently, most of his friends had gone away on long time vacation, some just hadn’t said a word to him since the last day of school at all. 

“I’m happy you ran into me,” Taehyun mumbled, Kai coughed on the last drops of his juice. 

“I’m happy too,” He laughed, forced. “Haha…I missed you a lot Taehyun.” The words came out in a whisper, couldn’t let anyone but him hear. 

“I missed you too.” Echoed back. 

Silence fell in between them. When Taehyun cleared his throat the line crackled. 

“Hey. Blair Witch Project is finally coming to theaters here, do you wanna go with me? My friend showed me the trailer and it looks...sick.”

“Isn’t that a scary movie..?” Kai asked. 

“Yeah, you a chicken or what?” 

“Absolutely not. I’ll go with you.” 

“Cool. It’s on Friday. 10 PM.” Taehyun breathed out. 

“Cool,” Kai repeated. 

He wasn’t sure who hung up first, but the call ended and Kai slammed the phone back in his place. Skipped a bit too happily up to his room. Screamed himself hoarse into the pillow - not knowing whether he was extremely excited, or dead worried. Kai wasn’t one to watch horror movies, and now he had to pretend he wasn’t scared while watching one with Taehyun. What would he do if he started crying like a baby in the saloon?

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

“Can you believe that fucker asked for my ID when we bought tickets? Does it look like I’m not even 17?” 

“Well…” Kai found it quite funny how angry Taehyun looked, but he was afraid the other might drop all of their popcorns if he didn’t stop flailing with his arms. 

“I don’t look like I’m that young! I’m older than you!”

“You are also about _this_ tall.” 

Kai held his hand up to the middle of his chest, he wasn’t that short, but seeing how red Taehyun’s face turned was worth it. 

The first 10 minutes were fine, Kai wasn’t scared yet, and Taehyun seemed so into the movie he didn’t even notice Kai was next to him. 

He had never, _never,_ been a fan of horror movies, but when Taehyun yelped and grabbed his hand during the first _really_ scary scene; well he could get used to it. Kai didn’t even react more than a jump here, or the rise of his heartbeat there. The friend next to him jumped at every sound and whisper, whipped his head away from the screen when a scene ended up scarier than he thought so fast cracks could be heard every time. It was just _a bit_ amusing. 

“Mike! Mike!” The woman on the screen screamed repeatedly, ran up and down flights of stairs. Taehyun wouldn’t know, of course, his eyes had been closed for minutes, and most of his body was turned towards Kai. 

The camera knocked to the ground, the movie turned silent and Taehyun gripped Kai’s hand so tight he almost yelled out in pain. 

“Not even scary.” Taehyun sighed, took a deep breath when they finally left the theater. Popcorn crumbs left on the floor by their chairs, a drink half full. The shadows of two boys sitting maybe a bit too close. 

“Are you sure, I can’t hear you over the _“oh god I’m gonna get a heart attack!”_ ” 

“Shut it!” 

It was dark outside, just enough for the two of them to only really see each other if they passed under a streetlight. The wheels of their bikes clicked occasionally. 

_Click, click, click._

The butterflies in Kai’s stomach were wild. 

“Hey I wanna show you this place,” Kai said when they had passed the streetlight, so that Taehyun couldn’t see the red creeping up his face. 

“Where?” 

“Do you remember the old parking garage?”

Taehyun nodded. 

“Well there,” Kai answered, looking at the other one for confirmation. 

“Do I hear midnight picnic?” He smiled and steered them towards the corner store. “We got 15 minutes before they close.” 

He kicked off on the bike, Kai watched him speed up; took a while himself to finally catch up with him. 

A packet of gum, the cherry one of course. Two bottles of peach tea, Taehyun picked a small bag of chocolates off the shelf of _nice_ candy. Like the ones in fake golden boxes or in velvet red metal containers. The ones Taehyun picked, in a plastic bag tied shut with a bow of string that was supposed to look fancy. 

“So much of a midnight picnic.” Kai laughed as he put the change back in his wallet, Taehyun paid for the cinema snacks, so Kai offered to pay for them this time. He stared down at the rather sad excuse of food, wanted to laugh again. “Let’s go,” Kai finally whispered. 

This time he was in the front, leading him and Taehyun past the galleria, around the garage. 

Yeonjun showed it to Soobin many years ago, when the new garage was finally built and the old one was abandoned and forgotten. He showed it to the friend because there weren’t a lot of places where they could be alone. Be themselves. Where they could pretend they weren’t stuck in this shitty old town. 

Soobin showed it to Kai because they trusted him. Though the three of them rarely went there together, Soobin somehow knew that the new and shy freshman needed someplace where he could be alone, just to observe the world moving too quickly around him. A place where he could be himself. 

The two older friends had honestly not been here for long, they found comfort in other places. Could hide secrets elsewhere. In the city, maybe in the small studio apartment Yeonjun had found after graduation. So the old parking garage was really just for Kai now. 

Lonely though. 

He wanted to show Taehyun. So he too had a place to go to if he needed to be alone, or himself. If _they_ longed for a place where their laughter could be loud and their touches could linger more, without having to blame it on a scary movie. 

Stairs creaked when they walked up to the first floor, they would be the first to fall once this place was done for good. 

Kai held Taehyun’s hand as he helped the friend to climb up on the roof on the last steps. 

”This is a special place. I’ve never seen anyone here but me really...well Yeonjun and Soobin too. But they aren’t here anymore.” Kai gasped for air once they were up on the roof, why he had held his breath he didn’t know. 

“Woah.” Taehyun mumbled. 

The blond watched the town in front of them. Spun around until he looked dizzy, pointed hazily at the blue house on the hill; laughed half-heartedly like he wanted to comment _“that’s my house!”_

They used the blue and orange windbreaker Taehyun had worn as something to sit on, even if Kai tried to tell him he didn’t need it. 

“Sit!” Taehyun was prompt, patting the small space next to him. Big dog eyes watching Kai from below until he finally complied and sat down. 

“So this place,” Taehyun began...the words lingered in his mouth. Like he was marinating them. “Have you shown anyone this?”

“Well...you. But no, it’s fine though. I don’t want to show anyone...” _“anyone but you.”_

Taehyun jumped an inch closer to Kai. 

“I like it.” Taehyun 

He fiddled with the red ribbon, untied it, and picked out a heart-shaped piece of chocolate from the bag. Gave it to Kai. 

“Do you wanna wait here until the sun rises?” Kai asked as soon as his mouth was empty, then he pointed to the patch of grass below the building. “It’s really weird but I like to you know - ah sometimes I walk down there and feel the morning dew, it’s really magical.”

“I’d love that.”

They spent the first hour or so devouring the snacks, Kai rested his head in Taehyun’s lap, who handed him a stick of the cherry gum and cleared his throat. 

“What's the difference between a teacher and a train?” Taehyun read the small riddle on the inside of the gum wrapper. 

“What?”

“Well the teacher says “spit out your gum” while the train goes 'chew chew!'”

Both Kai and Taehyun snickered at the lame joke, Taehyun opened up another wrapper and read out the riddle, popped the gum in his mouth and waited for Kai to do the same. 

Disgusting is what they were really, Kai never figured out how Taehyun could stand chewing half a packet a day. Though the label clearly said “cherry-flavored”, it tasted more like the company slapped on the first fruit that matched the color. 

_“Strawberry is already taken? Ehh, let’s just say it’s cherry.”_

Because that was what it tasted like, red. It tasted red; well actually it mostly tasted like chemicals. Kai hated it, but Taehyun looked at him so pleadingly from his lap, waiting for Kai to just accept the gum. 

He chewed it for probably less than 2 minutes, before taking it out of his mouth and flicking it away towards the end of the roof. 

While the horizon lit up, Taehyun had fallen deep into a conversation (almost entirely with himself) about the new Pokémon game his mom had bought it for his Nintendo, and he had so far spent hours playing it. Kai didn’t quite keep up with the lore, but Taehyun didn’t seem to mind as long as Kai was occasionally nodding along and humming. 

Somewhere in the conversation, Taehyun had grabbed hold of Kai’s hand, just to mindlessly fiddle with it while talking. 

He had also tied a pretty little bow on his ring finger with the red ribbon from the chocolate. 

Kai didn’t mention it, neither did Taehyun; frankly, Kai wasn’t sure the other one was aware of what he had done. 

“Ah look, the sun.” Kai pointed behind the trees, where small rays of the sun started to peek through. Shadows of the night were still there, but if you really squinted your eyes; you’d see the world glimmer a bit in the sunlight. 

Never in his life had Kai been a morning person, but there was something special about sitting here; watching the sun slowly creep up from behind the horizon. 

Kai was entranced by the colors changing and the birds waking in the trees. 

If this was a movie, this would have been the moment the two protagonists sat shoulder to shoulder and the narrator carefully told the viewers; 

_He thought the sunrise was pretty, but she thought he was prettier._

The two boys now sat shoulder to shoulder, Kai never noticed that Taehyun wasn’t watching the shadows grow or the sun say good morning, he was watching Kai with gentle eyes. 

Maybe if Kai had whispered “woah it’s so pretty,” Taehyun would have whispered “I think you are prettier,” back to him. 

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

“Why would you force me to watch that movie? Now I’m sad.” Kai frowned, fell down on the worn-out and slightly dusty couch in Taehyun’s basement. 

They spent more and more time together, frankly almost every minute of their days. Kai’s mother was delighted seeing the blond again; complimenting him on his new looks and coming into Kai’s room every 15 minutes with a tray of snacks. 

“ _You look so thin Taehyun, eat some more!!”_

Taehyun’s parents weren’t home very often, and with the usual embarrassment Kai felt for his parents; it meant they spent most of their days in the blue house on the corner of their street. 

Often in the basement, where they had spent their childhood. Safe sofa, same old stained yellow wallpaper. 

“But wasn’t it good? My dad and I rented Die Hard last Christmas and I didn’t realize Bruce Willis was in this movie too.” Taehyun defended, threw a pillow out of his way.

“Well I cried, I thought it would be a horrifying scary movie.” 

“It was scary! Tell me the scenes with the ghost lady opening up all the cupboards in the kitchen didn’t freak you the fuck out.”

“No,” Kai sat up, which Taehyun took as an opportunity to sit down where Kai had previously rested with his head. “ _you_ were freaked the fuck out! I’m surprised you didn’t break my hand!” 

Taehyun laughed, reaching for Kai’s head with his hand; motioning him to lie down again. Continued to mention movies he wanted him and Kai to watch, stroking the dark brown hair. 

Traced Kai’s features with his index finger. The thin brows and the small bump on his nose; the moles on his fair skin. 

Intimate, though the radio was spewing out loud music Kai could barely hear it. Too caught up looking up at Taehyun, into the light amber eyes. 

“Taehyun…” The name left Kai’s lips in a breath.

Taehyun hummed, waited for Kai to continue. 

“I’m really glad we...reunited? If that’s how you could put it.” He had said it countless times before, but it wasn't enough. Did Taehyun really _know_ how happy Kai was?

“Me too.” Taehyun whispered, he wasn’t quite smiling, but the blond rather looked serious. 

“It’s the happiest coincidence I’ve ever encountered.” Kai confessed. 

Taehyun widened his eyes, widened them slightly and averted his gaze somewhere else. The tips of his ears turned pink. 

“I don’t think it was a coincidence, more like...fate?” 

“Huh? What do you mean?” Kai’s eyebrows scrunched up. 

_Like a soulmate?_

The blond tapped his forehead to get him to sit up, reached into the drawer under the small tv table in front of them. 

Pulled out an old notebook and a blue pen. 

“Look,” Taehyun drew two lines, parallel, but at least a centimeter apart. “think of these two lines as people, they never cross, they are strangers.” 

Kai nodded. 

His eyes followed the pen as Taehyun drew two more lines. They were both squiggly, sometimes the lines touched, and sometimes they were far apart. 

“This could be your relationship with your sisters, it’s up and down. Sometimes you watch comics together and laugh, and sometimes you want to kill each other?” 

“Mhm.” 

“This is a relationship…” Taehyun explained as he drew, the lines started off apart, eventually almost became one; until they both separated, kind of looked like a weird 'X'. 

“What’s your point?” Kai asked, unsure where Taehyun was going at all. Their cheeks were almost pressed together.

Taehyun ripped off the page and stared at the new blank one in front of him. 

“Well this is you and me…” 

The two thin lines stared off a little bit apart, like the distance or four houses. They eventually met, drawn tight together for a long time. Kai heard Taehyun whisper “kindergarten...middle school…high school…”

Lines that were previously practically one, fell apart and distanced themself. Four long years. Until they somehow crashed into each other again. 

“This is where we are now.” Taehyun glanced at Kai, pen tapping against the table, almost manically. The two lines had become one. 

“That's us” Kai asked. 

Taehyun nodded. 

"What about the future?"

“I don’t know...but I think something like this.” Taehyun mumbled. 

Not even a needlepoint apart, Taehyun drew them with caution until there was no more of the page. 

“I believe universe decides, you know- but I think it’s almost like we are-“ 

_Soulmates?_

There was a knock from upstairs, loud enough for it to startle the pen out of Taehyun’s hand. 

Something about his face screamed “it’s a ghost!” 

“It was probably just Hobak.” Kai assured, though it didn’t seem to calm the other one's mind at all. He knew the cat had probably slept the entire day, and finally decided to use up the energy in its body. Causing havoc when left unattended up there alone. 

“Maybe…” 

The notebook was since long forgotten when Kai and Taehyun ventured upstairs to investigate. 

Hobak sat on the floor by the VHS player, happily playing with the cord Taehyun had unplugged from the wall a few hours earlier. The knocked over tv controller by its side. 

“Ahhh! Hobak, you scared your dad.” Taehyun picked him up. Glanced outside, it was dark; foreseeing the depressing autumn that was about to come. 

“Do you want to sleep here? Just in case there is a ghost, it would be unfortunate if I died.” 

“It would be.” 

Kai considered calling his mother, but it was late; his sister was probably hogging up the internet anyway. Worst case scenario he’d end up in an amber alert. But if he woke up early, he’d be home for late breakfast tomorrow; so there were probably no problems. 

Besides, two months into summer vacation, she should have learned that if he wasn’t home; he was with Taehyun. 

The blond pressed play in the CD player on his desk, listened to the first song by N’sync play, soft guitar and humming. 

Taehyun never pulled out an extra mattress for Kai, so he slipped in under Taehyun’s blue covers. They were thick despite the hot summer, probably too thick for two people to share. 

“I listen to this almost every night.” Taehyun mumbled, after finally laying down in bed. 

Slight distance between them, just enough in case any of them thought it would be awkward. Kai was shunned by the confession; couldn’t believe Taehyun actually listened to the hot mess of a mixtape he had done. 

“Whenever I miss you I put it on.” The blond continued, turned to his side. 

Kai followed him, turned to his side and inched closer; just a little bit. Threw his arm over Taehyun; because it was comfortable, no other reason at all. 

Just as he was about to comment on the weirdly sweet words; the music became shockingly loud. 

Britney Spears begins her song with the iconic lyrics, in her high and seductive voice. _Oh baby baby._

The moment was indeed ruined, which both Taehyun and Kai laughed at. Soft giggles still lingering in the air long after the two had bid their goodnight. He hugged his friend a little bit tighter, pulled the dark blue covers up to their shoulders. They fell deep into sleep tangled in each other’s arms and with hearts beating in sync. 

Kai drowned in blue, but it wasn’t so bad. Actually it felt like the only thing keeping him sane.

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

“Summer vacation is over in a few weeks.” Kai mumbled, resting his head over Taehyun’s lap. It wasn’t entirely true, Kai wasn’t going back to school - so technically he was on some kind of never-ending summer vacation. 

The blonde was quiet, almost a little bit somber. It had rained a few days ago, almost for the first time this summer, the roof they were sitting on hadn’t really dried yet. 

“What happens then?” Taehyun asked him. Looked down at the dark eyes. 

“Hmn?” Kai’s gaze ran past Taehyun for just a second, until he looked up at the cloudy and dim sky. “I don’t know. I would have preferred to - you know not to stay here, but I don’t know where else to go. Soobin and Yeonjun haven’t been home all summer, I don’t think they are ever coming back.” Kai said it as if he was telling a joke, but it was probably true. The small laugh he let out was a bit too bittersweet. 

“Beomgyu is moving too, with his family. I’ll miss him I guess, but we haven’t seen much of each other this summer anyway.” 

It was just the two of them then. 

The two of them here? In this town? Was it their destiny too, to stay here forever - until they marry, grow old, and die? The thought of it was entirely too terrifying. That this _magnetized_ fucking town had them in a grip that hard. Kai couldn’t do it, he came to the conclusion that he’d rather die - this town wasn’t too nice to people like him, like Taehyun. He _had_ to leave. 

Kai thought of his aunt, she had a music academy, in the city; where his father had lived when he was younger. He could go there. But not without Taehyun. 

Kai almost gasped out loud, _“I can’t leave without Taehyun.”_

Because what if Kai managed to get out, but Taehyun stayed here - forever. Stuck in a town with gravity so heavy you could barely pull your soles off the ground, there was no point in it all. 

“Wouldn’t it be fun to travel?” Taehyun asked. A question that Kai could now concentrate on instead of spiraling. 

“Travel where?” 

“Everywhere, nowhere, I don’t care. Just away from here.” 

“I’d go anywhere with you.” Kai said. 

Taehyun leaned down and bumped his forehead to Kai’s. 

“Good. Let’s run away together, out of here. I’m tired of this town, I hate everyone here.” 

“Everyone?” Kai’s pouted, his bottom lip stuck out, if the stars were visible they would reflect in his big eyes. 

“No. Not everyone. I could never hate you.”

Kai linked his fingers with Taehyun and smiled, it was nice. The two of them together, one day they’d get out of here together. 

“Before I forget, my mom wanted me to ask if you are coming over for my birthday tomorrow.”

“Yeah, free cake.” Taehyun straightened his back and laughed. 

They stayed on the roof until the night air became too chilly, until not even the touches they blamed on simple friendliness warmed them. 

“Goodnight.” Kai hugged Taehyun, waited on the sidewalk until Taehyun had locked his bike and was safely inside. 

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

“-appy birthday to you!” The small crowd of people sang, off-tune and not really in sync either - how they could mess up one of the easiest songs in history he wasn’t sure of. His mother looked the happiest, hands shaking just a little bit while holding the cake. His sister stood to the side, lazily miming the words rather than actually singing, which was a shame; she had a nice voice. He’d definitely feign heartbreak because of this later. “ _I can’t believe my own sister didn’t even bother to sing for me.”_

Taehyun wasn't from his immediate family, so he didn’t really get to stand in the front. Kai could despite this spot the blond hair sticking up in between cousins and uncles. If he had the say in it, Taehyun would have been by his side; he wouldn’t even have to sing, just be there. 

He blew out the candles on the cake, repeated the wish in his head; and watched them all go out in one breath. 

“Happy Birthday!” Everyone cheered again, but Kai only heard Taehyun’s gentle voice shout it from the back. 

Cake was handed out at such speed the plates were empty of crumbs after just a few minutes, and as soon as various relatives Kai only saw a handful of times a year had greeted him, Taehyun’s small figure came sitting down next to him on the couch. 

“ _Happy Birthday.”_ He whispered, but his voice was firm; almost smug. 

“ _T_ _hank you.”_ Kai responded, tried to figure out what the other had on his mind. 

“I’ve got my free cake, should I go?” Taehyun asked. 

Kai gasped, grabbed his chest with his hand, “you dare leave me with all of these boring people here?” 

They both laughed, Taehyun fell into Kai’s body. 

If it weren’t because the two boys were so distracted by hushed whispers and the new gameboy Kai had been gifted, maybe they would have heard his two parents mutter from the kitchen. Each holding a glass of wine in their hands and the buzzed blush spreading on their cheeks. 

_“Were you ever close with any one of you friends like that when you were young?”_ His mother asked her husband, like Kai and Taehyun were a cipher they had to figure out. 

_“No,”_ He whispered back, looking as puzzled as her. 

Though the last guest stayed longer than Kai anticipated, when they finally left after lingering by the door for nearly ten minutes, he let out a relieved sigh. 

“Is-is Taehyun-ah sleeping here?” His mother looked up at the two boys in between cleaning off plates off the table. 

“Yes, if that’s okay?” Kai asked, helping with tossing tissues and wrapping paper in the black trash bag. Taehyun looked up at Kai’s mother, between blond bangs. 

“Of course- should I ask your father to bring down the spare bed from the attic?” 

“No, I’ll fix it.” 

  
  


“No mattress?” Taehyun asked, after finally changing from his shirt to one of Kai’s t-shirts. Graphic tee and so big it could almost double as a dress. 

“Well we usually just share the same bed, if you are okay with it?” 

Taehyun nodded, walked around the small room. Kai sat down on the edge of the bed, stroked the body of the guitar his father had passed down to him; it was beautiful and polished, rough around the edges. There were traces of it being used, like there was a dent where he rested his arm and on the strings under his fingers, he filled the silence by tuning the guitar. 

“For you.” Taehyun mumbled, held a cd case in his hand. It was cutely handmade, almost like the one Kai made for him. Kai accepted it, spun the cd around; read Taehyun’s defined and proper handwriting. Much different from his own. 

_“Happy Birthday Kai.”_

_“For when you miss me.”_

“It’s not as good as the one you made me, but I hope you’ll like it.” Taehyun mumbled. Threw himself backwards on Kai’s bed so that Kai couldn't see the blush on his cheeks. Stared at the bleak white ceiling, there was still glue residue left from when his ceiling was decorated with glow in the dark stars. He yawned, dried off the small tears that formed in his eyes from the dramatic gasp. 

“Lay down, I’ll play you a song before we go to bed.” Kai said, doing his most to not actually look at Taehyun while he spoke; maybe afraid the red cheeks would glow in the dark - like stars. 

Taehyun complied, dragged the sheets over his body and rested his head on the pillow. Listened to Kai clear his throat and strum on the guitar strings a few times. 

_“Saying ’I love you’_

_Is not the words I want to hear from you_

_It’s not that I want you_

_Not to say, but if you only knew_

_How easy it would be to show me how you feel_

_More than words is all you need to do to make it real._

_Then you wouldn’t have to say that you love me_

_‘Cause I’d already know.”_

Kai’s voice was raspy, he hadn’t sung in years, especially not seriously. The blond under the covers knew the lyrics too, hummed along with him. Making the song a bit more beautiful. 

Kai sang the song he knew deep in his heart, sang the song that was in fact only for Taehyun to hear, he was far too shy to let anyone else listen to him. 

_“La di da di da~_

_more than words~_

_more than words~_

_More than words.”_

Kai placed the guitar in its stand by his dresser, took a look at the small cd case again; before laying down in bed next to Taehyun. 

“If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve spent almost every waking minute with you today, I would have believed you have taken a sneak listen to the mixtape.” Taehyun spoke with a smile. 

“Why is that?”

“4th track, _‘More than words’_ by Extreme.” 

“I think we are too similar.” 

The blond hummed, waited for Kai to pull the cover over him too. Waited for Kai to wrap his arms around him, hug him a bit tighter tonight than before. Like they had turned completely mute, like saying “I love you” isn't enough. Or no; wasn’t necessary at all. 

Now that he thought of it, didn't this feel awfully a lot like a confession scene in a coming of age movie? Like all he had to do was whisper a “I like you,” before Taehyun fell asleep, and all would be well. Ah he couldn’t be bothered - Taehyun was already snoring. Of course, falling asleep had never been easier. Not in each other’s arms. 

Kai’s mother was often awake early, the day after Kai’s birthday was no different. Tiptoeing out of her bedroom as the sun began to rise. 

She was curious; it itched in her fingers to know. The extra bed was still folded up in the attic, where it had stood since the last time it was used. Her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration 

The door to Kai’s room wasn’t completely shut, it rarely was. Still, his mother always knocked before entering, like she was trying to overcompensate her curiosity with being nice. Coming in with a bowl of sliced fruit just to see what he was doing. 

There was no knocking that morning, she just pushed the door open a few centimeters, so she could sneak a peek inside. 

They laid almost in the same position as they did when they fell asleep. The blond's face pressed against Kai’s chest, the latter one's arms around the former's waist. The only difference was perhaps the thin duvet, thrown off their bodies some time during the night, no longer hiding their small little secret. 

Bright sun shone through their kitchen windows. Kai’s mother gripped her coffee mug, prepared for a conversation she assumed would come sooner or later. She probably compared the two _friends_ to herself and her now-husband, how they behaved when they met. She felt horrible for not noticing earlier, so much of it made sense.

She looked down in the cup, her eyes reflected in the dark coffee. Eyes widening when two pairs of footsteps came down the stairs. 

_“Good morning,”_ ghosted in her breath, but she silenced; watched her son and the other one smile at each other like no one else existed. Taehyun draped in the large t-shirt she knew belonged to her son, their hair a mess from sleep, hands separating when Kai finally noticed his mother sitting in the kitchen. 

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

“I’m going out of town.” Kai gulped, switched his gaze in between the two parents. His father looked shocked, his mother not so much, the latter had after all prepared for a conversation like this. 

“With Taehyun. We are going to travel.” 

_With Taehyun._ He was really leaving, perhaps for good, he didn’t know. 

“Where?” His father's dark voice asked, the questing bode well; like he wasn’t opposed by the idea. 

“Um- we are visiting Soobin and Yeonjun. Yeonjun sold his apartment here, they are renting a one bedroomer in the city instead. Then I’m thinking of visiting auntie at her academy, maybe Taehyun and I will find a good hostel close by, stay there a while.

Confusion, anxiety, happiness, relief? Kai couldn’t figure out even if his life was on the line what his parents actually thought of the idea.

“We want you to call us, or send letters, or email us, at least once a week.” they said, and it seemed to be the green light he was waiting for. Just to make sure he wasn’t picked up from the highway and got killed. He’d be damned if he ended up on one of those “unsolved” documentaries the discovery channel occasionally showed. 

  
  


They let him go. His mother held his hand, smiled at him with pity in her eyes. Like she wanted to tell him that maybe this wasn’t the town for them, not right now. It would be better for him and Taehyun to leave - so that they could be happy without any worries. 

Kai and Taehyun spent their last night on the roof of the old parking garage. They were apparently tearing it down before winter came, the structure was too unstable; it took up precious space. At least the two teenagers could spend one last summer vacation here, Kai felt relieved he got to show it to someone else; before the memory of it disappeared forever. Before the only trace of it was on the fading polaroids he had taken of his older friends, or Taehyun up there. 

The pop of bubblegum reminded Kai that he wasn’t alone, he looked over at Taehyun, whose eyes were closed. 

“You know, I began eating fries with my milkshake because of you,” Kai mumbled, and the former opened one eye to look over at him. “I listen to Backstreet Boys because you convinced me their music was good; now I can’t stop. I’ve gotten weirdly attached to scary movies because it’s your favorite genre for some reason. Sometimes I chew your disgusting cherry gum because you love it so much. I’m leaving this town with you because I could never leave it with anyone else.” He continued. 

There wasn’t a need to say _I love you_ directly. Taehyun knew it, in the small things Kai did for him. In the habits he had picked up from the blond.

Not even the gods had to spell it out for them. What? That they loved each other? It was obvious, not to mention they liked it better unsaid. As if saying it out loud would somehow jinx it. 

Despite it being pitch black outside, the moon casted shadows on them, as they linked hands and walked their lonely little way home. The two had learned that it was only alone, or at night, they could be so brave as to do this. Though their feelings for each other were simple, there was _a lot_ to figure out. 

In the meantime they could only hold hands in the darkness, that was simple. It was the reason they were leaving. So that they could linger with their touches a little bit longer, didn’t have to pretend they were just really good friends. It has to be different somewhere else, a place where it was okay. There was a reason Taehyun hated everyone in the town he had grown up in, for making him believe that it wasn’t. Making emotions that were supposed to be simple and obvious into something the complete opposite. 

That’s why they were leaving.

Who knew if they were to come back. 

Guitar case hanging off his left shoulders, backpack on his back. A sister reluctantly circling her arms around him to hug him goodbye. Fighting whether or not she should uphold the snarky and annoyed facade, as if to pretend she didn’t care her brother wasn’t gonna be by her side anymore - or if she should just give in and let the small tears fall; because said brother was _finally_ leaving. 

Finally leaving. 

They hugged their parents tight, father’s ruffling their son's hair and turning their faces away to not show them that it made them sad. Their mother’s drying tears off their cheeks with handkerchiefs that were once spotless. 

The two of them waved goodbye through the dusty window, the train finally moving and the two families following it with small steps and mouths in deep frowns. Though there was something growing inside the two on the train; fear, or maybe even excitement; they couldn’t help but frown back. 

Who knew if they would come back.

Kai finally turned his face away from the window, their hometown far in the distance. He had watched as houses scattered, as not even the warehouses on the outskirts of the town was more than a smudge in his field of view. 

_Bonk._

Taehyun’s head slid from the side of his seat onto Kai’s shoulder, and despite the _almost_ audible thump he didn’t even seem to stir. Rather, he nuzzled closer to Kai and sighed deeply in his sleep. 

The other one’s fingers carded through the silky blond hair. Before closing his eyes himself, Kai pulled the worn out headphones over his ears and plugged them into the discman; turned on the mixtape Taehyun had made for him. Recalling the order of the songs in his head, gazed outside the window once again before tearing his eyes away from it, tired of watching as highlands blurred together into a mess of green. 

Their two pinkies ghosted against each other, linking together sometime in their sleep.

The dream of spending their life together, an endless summer vacation, hope for a better future, as if the change of decade wouldn’t only bring new music, more scary movies; a kinder life for the two of them. A future in which saying _I love you_ wouldn’t gather judging gazes from everyone around them. Where those words didn’t have to be difficult, if they one day decided to actually say them out loud. 

It wasn’t far from how Kai imagined a coming of age movie would end. How his and Taehyun’s movie would end if they were in one. The scene of the train disappearing in the horizon, surrounded by a sky baby blue, their heads resting against each other and hands tightly interlocked. 

Kai’s favorite song slowly tuning in as the long list of credits rolls. 

⥽ '.✧∘•°;*✧•°; ✩ ;°•✧*;°•∘✧.' ⥼

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> cries why are tyunning the perfect pair for soft soulmate aus, and _yes_ tyunning r soulmates. shh. 
> 
> thank you for reading, kudos and comments r always appreciated <33
> 
> (remember to go read TRASHCAKE's au too!!! their writing is truly incredible, i dont even care if you don't like skz, it is just,,,,*chefs kiss*)
> 
> Happy new year!!! I hope 2021 is nicer to everyone!! ilyall
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/hopeonmydick)


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